Labor Day Weekend

Aaron was in a wedding over the holiday weekend, so Papa & Binga kept the kids for us. It was fabulous to get away without kids for the weekend...two nights without kids!! Although the constant bathroom trips didn't lend themselves to full nights' sleep. But it was still relaxing.
While we were gone, they took the kids to the farm to visit Grandpa Elmer & Grandma Mary.

Of course, Jacob found dirt to play in right away!

Don't interrupt my playing!!!

Great Grandpa and Grandma with 2 of their 16 (soon to be 18!!) great grandchildren!

Boy is a crazy sleeper!

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The wedding was at LaSada Sporting & Hunting Inn. It was a beautiful setting and the weather was perfect!

I loved the colors...vibrant yet still mixed with earthy accents.

My chariot awaits! ;) The walk to where the actual wedding was held was about 1/2 mile down the path. I made that walk for the rehearsal and was rewarded with huge blisters. So I was very relieved to hear they had a "carriage" to take elderly and pregnant guests down!

Such a beautiful setting.

There were three flower girls and one ring bearer...and this is how the adorable little guy walked all the way down the isle. It was like he was saying "I can't believe they're making me walk with all these girls!"
A beautiful wedding, a wonderful weekend away, and we're so happy for Nathan and Joy!

The Farm

I don't remember when or why, but at some point this summer the kids & I went out to the farm with Papa and Binga for a quick visit. The kids love going out there! Papa was working on the old farm truck and the kids found some treasures. And I got camera happy :)

Grandma Mary found some awesome toys for the kids to play with! They were from my dad's childhood days (they didn't look that old! toys sure aren't made like that anymore!).

Doesn't he just look ornery?! :)

This is what Jacob spent most of the day doing!

Anna found the old croquet set in the garage.

Anna also got her birthday present from Great Grandma & Grandpa. A new baby doll and blanket (plus a giant thing of bubbles!)...can you tell she's happy as a lark?!

What a blessing it is to have such wonderful grandparents!!

The kids also found the creeper in the garage. Anna had fun directing Jacob to push her on it. Ha!
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Papa hard at work on the old truck. He was determined to get it fixed. And he did, of course. His dad taught him well!

I thought it was funny that this picture captured two things so opposite...the old farm truck (what year is it anyway? 60s?) and the tech-savvy Prius!

Making Memories and Working Hard

There was work to be done! Aaron helped Dad move the electricity and water off the church since it's the same line that feeds Grandpa & Grandma's house. Did I say in the last post that the church is being burned down? It really needs to be done...it's in super bad shape and is just falling in on itself. Anyway, we went to the farm so Aaron could help Dad. Now usually, Aaron says that means he stands there and watches my Dad work. :) But this time, Aaron could actually do something Dad couldn't! This.....

I don't remember why they had to dig like this, but they did. And the farther back they got, the smaller it got. Dad is claustrophobic (thanks for passing that one along, by the way!). And seriously? Even if you weren't? That would be HARD to do. What the picture doesn't show is that his head is lower than the rest of his body and the hole beyond what you can see is narrower than his shoulders. He had to reach up and grab the top of the well-house to pull himself up, hand me an old ice cream bucket to dump and then go back down to dig some more (with the end of an old garden trowel!). He got it done!

Making memories :) This could so very easily be me and Grandma 25 years ago. Very few things have changed (and Anna looks a lot like her Mama)!

Binga found Jacob some great books at a garage sale that she sent with Papa. Jacob LOVES them! They are now his very favorite (Tonka books!).

Papa took the kids out to explore Sunday afternoon.

Memory Lane

This is the church I grew up in...

It sits less than 1/4 of a mile from my grandparents' farmhouse.

Long before it was our church, it was also a schoolhouse. My dad went to school there through grade 4.

I definitely remember this wallpaper. It's in the preschool Sunday school room. My grandma sometimes taught the class. My favorite parts of this class were the flannel-graph stories and the blocks!!

This was in the other classroom. Nice 60s theme, huh? :)

Little stinker.

It was really sad to see how badly things have fallen apart. The church was closed 10 years (?) ago, so it's just been sitting empty. This piano still plays as off-tune as ever! :)

Papa telling the kids stories from when he went to school there. He was just behind that post playing ping-pong when he heard about JFK's assassination.

The nursery. There used to be 2 sets of stacked cribs against that wall. This room also housed the gigantic, ancient copy machine and mini-library.

Soooooo many memories of this sanctuary! Church events, Singspirations, VBS programs, helping lead worship as a high schooler (Dad FORCED me to play the piano one Sunday. I was so mad but we both knew I never would have done it any other way.), and the last memory...right up on that stage is where Aaron proposed to me! The church had been closed for a year or two and had no electricity. I was completely oblivious that he was even going to propose that weekend (Thanksgiving)! He had practically the whole family in on it. They got a bunch of candles up there and lit. We went for a walk--he'd never seen the church before so in we walk and there were all the candles and Aaron dropped to a knee. That might be the best memory from this church! :)

I just found out that those aren't actually stained glass windows! They're like peel and stick window things! I always liked them a lot though.

Jacob and Great Grandpa talkin' shop :) Right in front of them is where the piano used to be.

The entrance. The boys would hang and swing from the overhang.

Entryway--women's bathroom.

This is where we posted information about missionaries and other announcements and had tracts and Daily Breads set out.

What beats this view?! This is what we saw every Sunday on the playground. Wide open spaces and a beautiful sky.

I'm going to miss seeing it when we go to the farm. But, things change.